Improvement in ice-machines



D. K. TUTTLE 8v O. LUGO.

ICE MACHINE.

Patented Jan. 24, 1871.

. scribed; and

bers C G'.

"DAVIDK, TUTTLE AND ORAZIO LUGO. OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

Letters Patent No. 111,280, dated January 24, 1871 antedated January 7, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN lCE-MACHINES.

The Schedule referred to in 'these Letters Patent and makngpart of the same.

To all whom it ymay concern:

' Be it known that we, DAVID K. TUTTLn and Onn- 'fzlo LUGO, of the city and county of Baltimore, State @of "Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinesfor Making Ice, of which the followingis a speciiicatiou.

This invention has for its object the construction 4- 'of a. machine inwhich the depression of temperature, .resulting from the expansion of cooled compressed fair, shall be so intensified as to produce a large quan- 'tityf ice in a more rapid and economical manner .thanhas hitherto been accomplished in this class of machines.

This object we accomplish ina twofold man-ner, yiz: f- 'First, by utilizing the cold, or so-callednegative heat, contained in the atmosphere drawn from the freezing-chambers in the manner hereinafter de- Second, by causing the cooled compressed air to v rarefy in direct contact with'the water or other liquid 'to' be cooledor frozen. v

vThat the manner in which these results are at-l tained may be more clearly explained, referencev is made to the accompanying. drawing. V

Figure 1 is a longitudinal `'vertical section through the-center of the apparatus. .fFigure 2 is a vertical cross-section through the chambers C C.

Ag. 1, is a double-acting air-pump.

B is a cooler, consisting of a rectangular or circular vessel, strongly constructed, and divided into compartments a a and b. .a a' are .connected by thetubes` a, for the passage of the compressed air. The space b is kept lled with cold water.

B is a cooler, of similar general construction to B. A. portion of the central tubes is omitted to allow the introduction of the tube c. This tube passes through the external shell of the cooler, and through the upper crown-sheet, into the cavityb, where it `terminates in an open end. 05CA are the freezing-chambers, which are rectaln 'guiar-vessels, suitably'protected from external radiation, in which are placed the trays or pansl c t containing the water to be frozen.

'The pipe el communicates with the egress-valve :chamber of the pump, and conveys the compressed airinto the cavity a ot' B.

e is a pipe, connecting a' with fin chamber B. g is a pipe, communicating with the freezing-cham- At r/ it carries a weighted valve, which serves to maintain the pressure in the cooling portion of the apparatus. V hh are pipes, which serve to convey the cold rare- 'dednir' from the first freczingchamber to the second in the series.

This, as will' be seen, may be either O or C.

The pipe c is connected with each of the chambers.

O C and with c. -By means oi' the cock t communi cation may be established between either of the chambers O C and c. The air which passes through c bubbles up through the liquid in b', abstracting the i heat as well as causing agitation of the liquid. Thence the air passes through thev pipe d' to the pump, when it is drawn in and recompressed.

al" is a connecting-pipe, provided with a stop-cock,

through which any condensedv moisture may be re- .turned toAthe vessel b.

. k is a Vacuum-valve, which may be set so as to maintain any desired degreevof rarefaction in this part of the apparatus.

The vessel or cooler B at b being filled to about m with brine or other suitable liquid, which has a very low freezing point, and not readily Vapoi'izable, the vessel B in bis illed with cold water, which is renewed as often as required through n, the surplus water being allowed to pass on" at n".

The water or other liquid to be refrigerated or cooled is placed in the trays or pans c, in the chambers C O', the doors of which are now closed.

j The pump being set in motion, the 'course of the current of air through the machine is as follows:

Compression takes place in a, forcing the air through the tubes a into ajthence by e to f, where it is further cooled in its passage downward through the tubes f into f. Thence it pvassestbrough the valve r/ to the chamber O or G',"as may be desired.

supposing the valves o o' to be so setas to admit the air to G, it will then pass on its .return circuit through h to c,theuce through c to the liquid in b',- from this point it passes through d to the pump for recomprcssion.

The changes which the current of air undergoes in; its circuit, and the oice it serves, may be thus briefly described.

l The heat evolved in its compression is irst obstructed as completely as practicable by the cold water Awhich surrounds the pump A and the tubes a". In passing through thetubes f the air has its ternperaturc still further reducedby the contact of said tubes with the surrounding non-congealing liquid. This latter is kept at a very low temperature by the constant passage through it ot' the return current of c old rareed air from the freezing-chambers.

When it yis desired to still further intensify the cooling action of the brine upon the passing current ot' compressed air, a small proportion of the latter may be admitted directly into the brine through the pipe 11".

The-co1npressed air,l which has now become intensely cold, leaving f", passes through the weighted valve g and rarees into the chamber C or C'. Here it rapidly abstracts the heat of fluidity from the water in c c" not Ionly by its own expansion, but also by the evaporation which it induces from the surface of the water itself.

Leaving C, the rareed air passes into C', where it exerts a rapid cooling action on the water there exposed preparatory to perfect congelation, when C' shall assume the same relative position in the series as isnow occupied by O.

From C', which is the second freezing-chamber in the case supposed, the air, being still 4at a very low temperature, passes back through the` brine, where it Yagain exerts its cooling.actionfand thence passes to the pump to 'again undergo the same series of'changes. f When congelation is completed in C, the positions of cocks o o' are reversed, so as to open communication between g' and C.' By this change the compressed air is allowed to expand' or rarefy irs't into 'the chamber C', which now becomes the first in the series of freezing-chambers. The icehaving been removed from O and replaced by'cold water, the cocks bubble through the brine in B', and thus come in direct contact with the same, a coil or worm may be cold air from O shall be caused'to pass in its circuit.

Having thus described our invention,

What we claim, and desire to -secure Patent of the United States, is-

l. The process herein described of producing icc by the expansion of cooled compressed air in direct -contact with the water to be frozen.

2. The process described for cooling the air while under compression, the same consisting in surrounding the Vessels or pipes containing the condensed air with a non-congealing liquid, which is cooled by the returning air from the ice-generator alone, or with the Y. aid ofaportionof the airtpreviously Ycooled, as de;

scribed.

3. The combination of the vessels B and B', the first cooled by the circulation of water, and the other by the cold non-congealing liquid, as described.

by Letters described.

5. The combination of the vessels Gland C with their connections, so as to alternate, as described.

ORAZIO LUGO. 'f DAVID K. TUTTLE. Witnesses: N. R. HELPER,

JNO. D. PATTEN.

placed in the brine, through which coil the current of 4. The combination' of the vessels B B and C, as 

